24-Hour Crisis Helpline - (757) 258-5051

Avalon’s team of trained advocates are available to confidentially talk 24-hours a day, seven days a week to anyone:

experiencing interpersonal violence

in need of crisis intervention for immediate threats

in need of emergency shelter

seeking information and resources on interpersonal violence, strategies for safety, and more

questioning the health of their relationship

This Helpline allows Avalon to provide those in need with immediate tools and support to empower survivors to move toward safety, self-sufficiency and lives free from abuse. Those who are hard of hearing or deaf can dial 711 on their phone for telecommunications relay services. With the use of a language line, advocates are able to communicate in more than 100 languages.

Everyone has the right to live without the fear of abuse. Violence can occur anywhere – at home, at work or in public. Whether or not you feel you are able to leave an abuser, there are things you can do to make you and your family safer. You may not be able to predict or control your partner’s violence, but you can plan the most effective way to respond to it.

Create a personalized safety plan, which helps you identify steps to better protect you and your children at home, school, work, and in the community. Every situation is different and Avalon’s trained staff can help you develop a safety plan that addresses your needs and concerns. We will also provide resources to help protect a survivor’s personal identity and information to prevent fraud, identity theft, and using information to stalk and harass. If you would like help creating a personal safety plan, contact Avalon’s 24 hour Helpline at (757) 258-5051.

Steps you can take include:

Gathering and storing (in a safe space) important documents such as birth certificates, social security cards, credit cards, personal IDs. If you cannot take the original, try to make a photocopy.

Try to store money in a separate account or an unknown location. This will give you more options if you need to leave.

Relocate by moving across town, across the state, or across the country if possible to put physical distance between you and your batterer

Get a phone with an unlisted number.

Open a PO Box for mail to help prevent financial fraud. Protect your mail by shredding credit card offers and pieces with your personal information

Guard your social security number - do not use it as a password or PIN, and request that agencies remove it from documents.

Check your credit reports to look for fraud or suspicious activity.

Report any suspected fraud to local law enforcement.

Victims of domestic violence are especially vulnerable at work because abusers know where to find them. There are additional steps you can take to protect yourself while at work:

Avalon operates the only emergency shelter in the Greater Williamsburg area. Though our primary mission is to serve those affected by domestic and sexual violence, as the only shelter we also serve those experiencing homelessness when space allows.

Our shelter has 20 beds (in addition to cribs), and is a communal living environment with four bedrooms and shared kitchen, living room, and laundry facilities. During a resident’s stay, Avalon staff work to ensure that all basic needs (food, clothing, limited transportation, resources) are met, and work with each client to provide case management, counseling, legal advocacy, and support. All of these services, including shelter, are offered at no cost.

Our emergency shelter is only available to adult female survivors and their dependent children (both male and female up to the age of 18) as long as they children are enrolled in school. When we receive requests for adult males in need of shelter, we assist them in working with other shelters or make arrangements to provide housing outside of the shelter.

If you would like more information, or are in need of shelter, please call our 24-hour Helpline at (757) 258-5051 to speak with an advocate.

Avalon’s Youth Services (AYS) program offers supervised visitation and custody exchange, counseling, workshops and advocacy for children and youth who are victims or witnesses of crimes or who have experienced trauma.

Services are provided by appointment for families that complete the orientation and sign the participant and release of information agreement. All services are provided at no cost to families, and availability is based on program capacity. Counseling services are designed to assist children increase self-awareness, enhance coping skills, improve relationships and their general quality of life. Custody and visitation services are initiated by completing a referral form and screening with AYS.

Avalon maintains six two-bedroom units, available to shelter residents who need additional support beyond their short-term shelter stay. Transitional housing residents sign a lease with Avalon, and pay a subsidized rent during their stay, which typically lasts from several months to two years.

Transitional housing residents are able to access most of the same services that shelter residents have access to, from basic needs to case management, counseling, legal advocacy, and support. Avalon staff work with these residents to help move them toward self-sufficiency obtain critical services and support needed to move toward more permanent housing situations.

Adult Services

Most of us know how important and helpful it can be to talk about your problems with an unbiased, supportive listener. This is way Avalon offers counseling for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking, both past and present. Our counselors work with clients to:

Heal from past traumas

Work towards a safe and self-sufficient future

Provide a safe space to share experience, strength, and perspective with other survivors

Help with resources for those who want to help survivors in their lives.

Community members can make appointments through our Outreach Office. Here, we are able to serve adult men and women, as well as school-aged youth who work with a special children’s counselor. Additionally, we offer a support group for survivors of domestic violence, a group for youth, and we are working towards a support group for survivors of sexual assault. Avalon also offers both individual and group counseling to our emergency shelter and transitional housing residents.

All counseling services through Avalon are provided at no cost. For more information, please call our Outreach Office at (757) 258-5022 and ask for one of our counselors.

Youth Services

Avalon offers support groups for school-aged children and teens who have experienced or witnessed domestic or sexual violence. These groups are provided weekly for both residential (emergency shelter and transitional housing) clients and youth in the community. Youth support groups provide:

Age-appropriate information about domestic and sexual violence

Self-esteem building

Conflict resolution skills

Skills for building healthy relationships

Opportunities for youth to share and connect with each other

Individual counseling for school-aged children and teens is also available.

All counseling services through Avalon are provided at no cost. For more information, please call our Outreach Office at (757) 258-5022 and ask for one of our counselors.

Education and Information

Education is one of the main keys to breaking the cycles of abuse and violence. Avalon offers customized presentations and workshops on domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. We are happy to speak to varieties of groups, from civic organizations, religious groups, educational organizations, and more.

We are also happy to present information about Avalon’s programs and services to groups. This allows the community to gain a better understanding of the different options people have, and they can become supporters and advocates for others in their lives.

Awareness

Awareness is another important key to fighting interpersonal violence. By making people more aware of these issues, they become easier to talk about. This helps lessen the feelings of shame and guilt that some survivors have, and can make it easier for those in need to reach out for help, support, and services.

During awareness months, Avalon will set up informational displays in the Williamsburg-James City County Libraries to help spread information. Staff and volunteers also attend community events and conventions to provide the public with information and someone able to answer questions.

Hospital Accompaniment

Hospitals can be a scary place, and many survivors feel shame and guilt for the violence in their lives, and resulting injuries. Avalon has a team of trained staff and volunteers on call 24-hours a day to go to local hospitals to provide advocacy and accompaniment for survivors in need of medical attention. Hospital accompaniment advocates are there solely to support the survivor, helping walk the survivor through the process, and to make sure their needs are meant and desires respected.

If you are interested in becoming a hospital accompaniment advocate, please contact our Hospital Accompaniment Coordinator, Sunny Yi at Sunny@Avaloncenter.org. If you would like to request hospital accompaniment, please call our Helpline at (757) 258-5051. This services is available 24-hours a day

Understanding and navigating the criminal justice system can be difficult under the best circumstances, but those experiencing domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking (especially when mixed with poverty) can face additional hardships. Avalon has two legal advocates, one to work with community members and another to work with residential (emergency shelter and transitional housing) clients.

Legal advocates:

Share critical legal information

Support and assist survivors navigating the legal system

Assist with safety planning

Help form connections with local legal clinics

Accompany survivors to court proceedings

Attend court to introduce Avalon’s services to those with interpersonal violence cases

Recent Posts

Testimonial 11

"The help from the staff was exceptionally well. Everyone was professional, knowledgeable and helpful. The service from this organization is great!"

Testimonial 12

"The positive experiences I had with the program is the grounding techniques and the ability to focus and understand who I am as an individual a person. That my past does not define me."

Testimonial 10

"I was able to have a clean safe environment and meet others that are in similar situation letting me know I am not alone. My needs and concerns were met promptly and I was treated with dignity and respect."

Testimonial 9

Staff welcomed me back without "shaming" me for having to come back."

Testimonial 8

"I came in with nothing- no home- no money- no shelter at all. I left with a job, food and my very own apartment. Thanks to Avalon!"

Testimonial 7

"The positive experience I have had with Avalon and the services they offered me is the interaction that I now have with me. I am able to love me and love others. To be able to interact with other women in my life and around me. Seeing the beauty in women and their strength. I am an overcomer and Avalon helped me to own and claim that."

Testimonial 6

"The shelter assisted my family with a safe environment to reside while moving forward with our lives. Staff has always been helpful when needed and my children participate in the programs available to them. I was an all around good experience for us."

Testimonial 3

I really have no idea what I could have done if Avalon didn’t accept me or exist.

Testimonial 2

Without Avalon’s shelter… I probably would have stayed in the relationship because I had no where else to go. This seems to be the trend for women who are abused. I may have lost my life.

Testimonial 1

I usually do not talk to anyone about our problems at home and I just plow through the crappy part and try to forget it. But coming here I just got a break and talking to your staff just let me get my frustrations out and vent my fears… Thank you for listening and thank you for allowing us to stay in a protected space.

Testimonial 5

"When I "messed up" one time, they were not judgmental, they helped me. I give all the praise in world. They believed in me and gave me a second chance."

Testimonial 4

"I thank God each and every day for Avalon and their staff, for God only knows where I would be today without Avalon."

P. O. Box 6805

Avalon is a 501c3 organization

Williamsburg, VA 23188

Tax ID: 52-1208945

757-258-5022

​Supported by Grant #15-D2631SP14 awarded to the Virginia Department of Criminal justice by the Office for Victims of Crime, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view or opinions contained herein are those of Avalon and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.